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Boehner: Are you kidding me?

In an attempt to head off growing Senate GOP opposition to the plan, Boehner and Ryan have personally urged a handful of Senate Republicans to help advance the plan, according to several people familiar with the matter. Boehner (R-Ohio) has brought up the issue in conversations with some of his closest Senate GOP friends, sources say, while Ryan has actively made calls to wayward Senate Republicans.

So far, the two men seem to be having some success: There appear to be 60 votes to break a filibuster during a critical vote on Tuesday. Senior Democratic aides expressed confidence Monday that they would be able to keep their 55-member caucus united during the Tuesday vote if they needed to, meaning that at least five Republicans would need to cross the aisle to bring the measure forward for a final vote.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is widely expected to oppose the plan, but he has not been vocal in his opposition to the measure nor has he yet formally taken a position. GOP leaders are not whipping their senators to vote against it, sources say, meaning rank-and-file Republicans are not feeling pressure from their leadership on the Tuesday vote.

Last Friday, four Republicans announced they would vote to cut off debate, including John McCain of Arizona, Susan Collins of Maine and Jeff Flake of Arizona. North Carolina Sen. Richard Burr, a close friend of Boehner’s, said last week he’d vote to advance the deal, but on Monday he changed course and decided to sustain a filibuster, a spokesman said.

Still, proponents of the deal seem to have enough support to clear procedural hurdles in the Senate. On Sunday evening, conservative Sen. Ron Johnson — who hails from Ryan’s home state of Wisconsin — also announced his support for the proposal, as did Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch on Monday. Several Republicans indicated that even though they plan to vote against the bill on its merits, they may allow the proposal to get a final vote this week.

“Chairman Ryan remains hard at work to cut spending in a smarter way,” William Allison, a spokesman for Ryan, said Monday. “He is confident the Senate will build on the overwhelming vote in the House and approve the agreement.”

Proponents of the deal — crafted by Ryan and Senate Budget Chairwoman Patty Murray (D-Wash.) — say it maintains deeper levels of spending cuts over the next decade while softening the blow of the tough automatic sequestration cuts on the Pentagon and domestic levels of spending. By agreeing with Democrats on overall discretionary spending numbers at $1.012 trillion this year and $1.014 trillion in the next fiscal year, Republicans argue that they can avoid a government shutdown next year after the 16-day October shutdown badly damaged their party.

But Senate GOP critics of the plan say it shifts cuts to the next decade on Medicare providers — which might never be realized — raises airline ticket fees and cuts cost-of-living increases for future military retirees, in exchange for raising 2014 spending levels above the $967 billion set forth in current law.

Nevertheless, after the sharply divided House passed the bill in overwhelming fashion last week — on a 332-94 vote — Republican senators acknowledge it would be hard to block the proposal now.

“Although I disagree with a number of provisions in the bill, on balance the good outweighs the bad,” Johnson said in a statement. “As long as the Senate does nothing to worsen the bill, I intend to support it.”